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Some Aspects of Chromosome Structure and Functions pp 89–101Cite as

Cytogenetics of Lepidopteran Insects

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Abstract

Lepidoptera is one of the largest orders of class Insecta having approximately 100,000 known species. The cytogenetic work has been carried out only on about 2000 species so far, may be, due to technical difficulties in handling lepidopteran chromosomes. This group shows some interesting features regarding high chromosome number, their small size, female heterogamety and sticky nature of chromosomes. There exists a controversy regarding the centromeric organization. While EM studies and experimental data show the presence of holocentricity, some cytological observations tend to prove monocentricity. There are very few reports on the banding pattern analysis of lepidopteran chromosomes. The distribution of chromosome numbers in various groups of this order show wide ranges but there are clear cut concentrations around a modal number in each case. The sex chromosomes have also been identified only in a very few species. The most common sex-chromosome mechanism is ZZ: ZW although ZZ/ZO, XY1Y2: XX as well as A Z: ZZ have also been reported. The females of this group exhibit achiasmatic meiosis and non-homologous telomeric association between the bivalents.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Zoology, Panjab University, Chandigarh

    V. L. Sharma

  2. Department of Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh

    R. C. Sobti

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India

    R. C. Sobit

  2. Institute of Genetics, University of Essen, Universitaetsstrasse 5, D-45117, Essen, Germany

    G. Obe

  3. Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Pels Institute for Cancer Research and Molecular Biology, Temple University School of Medicine Philadelphia, USA

    R. S. Athwal

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© 2002 Narosa Publishing House, New Delhi, India

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Sharma, V.L., Sobti, R.C. (2002). Cytogenetics of Lepidopteran Insects. In: Sobit, R.C., Obe, G., Athwal, R.S. (eds) Some Aspects of Chromosome Structure and Functions. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0334-6_9

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